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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Man's Best Friend?

"A Rottweiler: whose child might it attack? Yours?"

The papers from Queensland today carry two stories of dog attacks on children. Such events are not uncommon.

In the first, a two year old was mauled by a Bull Mastiff at a relative's house and had to be taken to hospital. His bottom lip had been torn off. The dog's owner asked that the animal be put down. This is tantamount to locking the door after the horse has bolted.

In the second, a ten year old girl had 70 plus stitches inserted in what was left of her face after a Bulldog-Staffordshire Terrier cross had its way with her. If adults hadn't been around, the child could well be dead. Her terrible injuries were shown on television this morning. They were sickening. The physical and mental scars she will carry for the rest of her life.

How much longer are savage breeds of dogs going to be allowed to be kept by irresponsible, psychologically-disturbed humans (why would any sane human being want to keep a killer dog)? When are the owners of such dogs going to be jailed for the damage their ugly 'pets' cause?

We should go further. Such dogs are no longer necessary in any modern society. Let's get rid of them and protect our children!

5 comments:

I agree Daniel. My youngest daughter is my grand daughter who I adopted when she was 5 year's old. On Mother's Day a friend of my daughter gifted her with a baby Pit Bull (Vet calls it a Staffordshire Terrier). She didn't want it but her fiance begged her to keep it. It was just a 6 week old puppy and her love of animals and soft heart for the helpless little thing prompted her to keep it and essay to train it. Now it is a big dog, although still not full grown, and stronger that she is.

Recently she and her fiance were engaging in a heated argument and he got too close to her while raising his voice. He did not touch her, but his loud, angry voice caused the animal to attack him. He suffered 6 moderately severe bites to his forearm which he had thrown up to protect himself. For a time the animal wouldn't even allow him to enter her apartment.

A would-be rapist set a small fire in the laundry room to make women open their doors in response to the fire alarm. He rushed into my daughter's apartment and began to remove his clothes. The dog attacked him and drove him away. My daughter escaped with her pets and the firemen put out the little fire.

Since then, my daughter is convinced the dog is her protector and savior and will not consider his potential danger to people and pets. I advise her of the animal's unpredictability to no avail. Her son is a slightly built 14 year old and I fear for his and her safety in the long term.

well, the problem isn't the dogs, is it? it's the humans. we keep animals as 'pets' these days. in the beginning, we had a more 'helpful' relationship. now, the need isn't there. the dogs- and other 'dangerous' animals- are following instinct. we are the ones with the capacity for abstract thought. this isn't a problem that will ever go away because if you ban- the black market will pick up. that isn't to say i don't believe it should be difficult or impossible for people to have these 'pets'- but humans always work around the system don't they? i am cynical enough to believe that the people who are not law abiding- will give no thought to breaking any.

I have been in so many debates over this. My argument is that while any dog is capable of attacking and inflicting horrendous injuries, it does seem to be certain breeds that attack more often and with worse results. The mantra 'blame the owner not the dog' is true but i would add on 'but keep an extra sharp eye on those who top the most likely to attack breed'.

Hey, Betmo, if you forced people who kept killer dog breeds to keep them in large, fully wire-enclosed cages similar to those for lions at the zoo, then their number would dramatically decrease. Large fines and jail time would apply if the dog 'got out'.

Lucy, people who need to keep killer dog breeds should have a rigorous psychological assessment. Let them learn martial arts if they fear attack.